Bent bows & max penthouse weight

[bluedog225]

Also, a closet dowel works to support the weight when deployed. Put a 2 inch by 10 inch by 1/4 inch piece of red oak (or similar hardwood) on the ceiling above the X formed by the tubing to act as a landing strip.

Cut the dowels to length (start long and work to right size). Rubber boot on the bottom and furniture mover/slider on the top end.

Raise the top, plant the bottom of the dowel in the middle and slide up until vertical and the weight of the penthouse is resting on the rods.

No more sag, and no worry about the penthouse colapsing on you in a blow (that would be be very inconvenient). Also takes the strain off the arms.

Having taken apart the lifting mechanism and adjusted it, there are a couple of points of potential failure that I'd rather not rely on.

[WOOT]

Hey Thanks, thats great information there! I have adjusted the springs & that has made a world of difference in the raising/closing of the penthouse. As far as the pillar supports, I'm sure that anyone putting any amount of weight up there should be doing this, not only to help support the weight but to prevent the top from excessive sway durring to winds. That top will move around from side to side with wieght up there & the supports will help curb that. Now the question is how much weight do I stack on top. I do like the idea of reinforcement of the bows with the chromoly & I may need to look into that.
Thanks again for the information
Woot.................

[howdo]

Anybody ever modify the manual top to upgrade to electric? (If there is a thread referencing this please re-direct me, thanks).

[daveb]

There is a portable electric assist.

[yvrr]

Originally Posted by howdo

Anybody ever modify the manual top to upgrade to electric? (If there is a thread referencing this please re-direct me, thanks).

Yes, we had SMB West do that for us several months ago. In the past, they weren't that receptive to doing it since it took two people out of the assembly line for a full week. But with the economy, orders are down.

It is not cheap...over $4,000. That is way more than twice the cost of selecting the electric top option during the initial build but they need to remove the penthouse and replace the steel frame around the opening in the roof before installing the motors, bows, etc. But we felt it was worthwhile. It takes a full 5 days to complete. I drove down early on a Monday so that I was there at 8:00 am and then took a cab to the train station and rode Amtrak back home. Did the reverse on Friday afternoon. If you decide to do it, be sure and clean everything out of the van. In our EB-50, that meant everything we store behind the sofa, everything out of the storage area above the sink and frig, and everything out of the cabinets in the rear corners (the latter is where the electric motors are installed).

[howdo]

Originally Posted by daveb

There is a portable electric assist.

Dave, Do you know where one might get this portable electric assist? 5 days and 4K, not gonna happen.
Thanks

[Ford_6L_E350]

Sportsmobile sells one.

Mike

[daveb]

Yes...SMB.

Jack also had one...maybe for sale? I would think he would like to recoupe some of that 4 grand

[yvrr]

Yes, we did have one and already sold it in the Classifieds...